Saturday, December 31, 2011

On the afternoon of the 25th, we loaded up and headed to my parents. They live about 3 hours away. Someone was in a good mood and ready to see her Papa & Granny! She took a nap and then watched her Strawberry Shortcake movie the rest of the way.

My Mama had her entire home decorated so pretty. Every room had a touch of Christmas. She and Daddy made it a special time for us all. These are her trees in the dining room and den. She brought out the stockings that she made us when we were little and added new ones for in-laws and grand kids that have since joined our family. Every window was lined with filled stockings!

We started eating as soon as everyone arrived. We had lots of finger foods like brisket & ham on rolls, potato wedges, sausage balls, spinach dip, cocktail smokies...I could go on and on. It was so good.

After filling our bellies - we gathered in the den where Daddy read The Christmas Story from the Bible.

And then it was time for presents!

It's always fun to watch the kiddos open their gifts.

All of my siblings and their spouses draw names and we fill a stocking for that person, which is always fun. Daddy and Mama gave us all gift cards and filled our stockings with goodies!

Daddy gave Mama her first iphone!

We were all looking forward to gift time because we had a big surprise for our oldest brother. We knew he wanted an ipad2, so the entire family went in on it and it was so much fun to see his face when he opened the box! There may or may not have been a few tears. :)

After gifts - everyone put on their pajamas...

And it was time to play!! The kids played the kinect for HOURS. The oldest nephews/nieces stayed up until 3am. Everyone stayed the night (except my brother-in-law, Gerry. We missed him a lot but he was exactly where he needed to be...with his Mom). There were 22 of us at my parents house. It was a huge sleep over and so much fun.

We headed home on the evening of the 26th. Our little girl was worn out. We hadn't been in the car for more than 5 minutes and she was out.

This was one of the most relaxing, laid back, meaningful Christmases I can remember in quite some time. I made a point of keeping things simple at the very beginning of the holiday season and I'm so glad I did. We were able to make wonderful memories with Amelia. She's at such a fun age. We would ask her what Christmas is all about and she would go back and forth from saying "Jesus' tay-tay" and "presents." We always want her to know the true meaning of the season. We want her to enjoy giving as much as receiving. We also want her to look forward to Christmas morning with excitement just like every kid should.

Even though we went to bed at 2am, Alex and I were so excited to see Amelia's face on Christmas morning! We both woke up before her and waited a good two hours for her to wake up. It gave us time to get her gifts ready and for me to bake her some cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

It also gave us time to have breakfast together, just the two of us. I found a blog that had these yummy breakfast sandwiches and knew immediately that's what I would make for Alex on Christmas morning. They had a fried egg, crispy bacon, and pepper jack cheese on a kaiser roll. I had one too and added tomato...they were so good! I ended up making up several and freezing them. Alex has taken one to work every day this week. We also opened our stockings while waiting on Amelia to wake up. We don't really do big gifts for each other, so it's always fun to fill the other's stocking with anything from gift cards to candy.

As soon as we heard the first peep of Amelia waking up over the monitor, we ran in to get her! We told her it was Christmas morning and time to open presents...her eyes LIT UP. She came running into the living room - so excited!

She immediately went for her cozy coupe...that thing is going to be hours of fun. She also received a bed for her baby dolls and a shopping cart.

While she played with her new toys, her Daddy brought her kitchen into her room so we could surprise her. She immediately whipped us up something delicious to eat.

She opened her stocking in her room and was Ooh-ing and Aww-ing over every little thing. Some of her favorite stocking items...chapstick, ice cream cone popper, and a light up snoopy toy.

Amelia also gave Daddy his gift from her. She made a calendar for him and her grandparents...with a little help from Mommy.

This was definitely Alex's favorite gift. Each month has a picture of Amelia from each month in 2011. She has grown so much. He took it to work and put it on his desk as soon as he returned to work.

We enjoyed having the entire morning at home with Amelia. We made the decision before ever having kiddos that they would wake up at their own home, opening presents under our tree, special breakfast made by Mommy, having our own time as a family. We will never regret that decision. Amelia had time to play with all of her new things and we had time to just be lazy and get ready for Christmas with my family that evening. It was lovely.

We started out Christmas Eve by delivering Christmas goodies and gifts to our neighbors. Just for the record, it was so cold outside and Amelia dressed appropriately (she insisted on mittens & hat). Her Daddy on the other hand was dressed like it was 80 degrees outside. The man loves him some flip-flops. :) After delivering gifts, we came back to the house and Amelia played with some of her gifts from the night before. She has been coloring a lot in her Strawberry Shortcake coloring book.

While Daddy & Amelia colored, I made the dough for our candy cane cookies. I think this was my favorite of all the things we did with Amelia this year. I love to bake and to be in the kitchen. I plan on having her in the kitchen with me as much as possible so she will hopefully love it the same. My Mama made these at Christmas when we were little and it's one of my fondest memories. You know how there are certain things that you only make once a year? Certain holidays mean certain foods/goodies. This is something I want my kiddos to always associate with Christmas time. Making these cookies with their Mama. This was the first time I've ever made them. And to make them with my little girl...even more special.

We were so proud of our work! They're almond flavored cookies and tasted delicious.

Another tradition we have is our Christmas Eve service at church. It starts at 11:30pm and ends at midnight.

The kiddos wear their pajamas and have cookies & cocoa. Amelia thought it was so neat that she was wearing her pajamas to church! Here are some of our sweet church family. We love living/sharing our lives with these folks!

I made homemade cocoa & marshmallows for our church members this year. I know it's nothing big but I wanted to give them something to show our love and appreciation for all they do for our church. They love and accept us and each other so well. A true blessing. I ordered little labels with Amelia's picture on them. I was pleased with how they turned out and everyone said they loved the cocoa and marshmallows!

Here's our family of three on Christmas Eve.

We arrived home after 1am and went to bed around 2am. I couldn't do this every night, being a girl who needs 10 hours of sleep and all, but I have to say there's no place I'd rather be on Christmas morning than church. It's always a special time as a church family.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Time to start posting pictures of Christmas 2011! I'll start with our Christmas with Alex's family - we always celebrate on December 23rd.

Yes, that first picture is of Amelia riding an English Mastiff. (LOL) He's my SIL's dog and is huge. I looked up and Amelia's was riding into the living room on him. They asked Amelia if she wanted a dog like him at her house and she quickly said, "YES!"

A few pics of the family opening gifts.

Each grandchild took turns opening their gifts. Amelia was so serious at first! Not sure what was going through her head. She loved her gifts though. She received a doctor's kit from her Daddygrand & Nana. She also received play-doh and a Strawberry Shortcake movie/coloring book from her cousin. She LOVES her Strawberry Shortcake movie - her eyes are glued to the TV through the entire thing.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Today is the last day of the 12 Days of Christmas for Alex. He told me his favorite gifts of the 12 days were the post-it love notes & the 7 prayers over his work week. Gifts that didn't cost a dime...only my time.

I hope you will find ways to make your husband feel special, not just over the Christmas holiday, but over the entire year. It will really make a difference in you, your spouse, and your marriage.

"Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life." -Proverbs 31:11-12

Thursday, December 22, 2011

One of our family traditions (since before having children) is to build a gingerbread house every Christmas. It used to be just the two of us, but now that we have Amelia, it's even more fun.

My friend, Erin, told us about The Candy Cottage and as soon as I read about it, I knew this would take the place of our gingerbread house. Reasons why...

-It snaps together within seconds. -It's re-usable. -It can be thrown in the dishwasher when you're tired of looking at your creation.-It's not just for Christmas...we can make a candy cottage for every holiday or occasion!

Alex (being the one that had to put the gingerbread house together every year) thought this was a genius idea.

Here are my partners - putting the cottage together and testing the icing.

I think Amelia consumed more icing than we put on the cottage. She went to bed with a belly full. We'll probably pay for that tomorrow. :)

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Alex loves to go fly fishing on the Little Red River...it's his favorite thing to do. Amelia and I decided for the 9th Day of Christmas, we would pick out some special flies for his next trip. I'm sure he'll catch lots of pretty fish with the pink fly Amelia chose! :)

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Monday, December 19, 2011

I find it a privilege and my responsibility to pray for Alex. I read one time that Satan desires to destroy your husband, especially his character and his leadership in your relationship. It encouraged wives to trust God through prayer as we daily surrender our husband and marriage to the Lord’s wise, loving care. I encourage you to bless your husband by praying for him!

On the 7th Day of Christmas, I wrote out 7 prayers for his week inside a card along with scripture that went with each prayer.

So I'm 6 months along in this pregnancy and as of right now, I feel amazing! I continue to say how much easier this pregnancy has been on my body than my first pregnancy. It has been a nice surprise. We have several things to do to prepare for Sydney's arrival but have plans to start working on that list in the new year. By this time in my first pregnancy - I knew the color of the room, the bedding was on order, and I was purchasing little outfits to put on my baby girl. This time around, I realized Amelia didn't even sleep in her room for the first 7 months of her life and neither will Sydney. I'm more concerned with having a good double stroller so I can leave the house with my girls and the only other necessity I can think of is diapers. I plan on purchasing some special little things for Sydney and we do have plans for her room but I guess I'm just more laid back this time around.

Sydney, we can't wait to see your sweet face. I've started imagining who you might look like. Your sister looked SO MUCH like her Daddy when she was born...maybe you'll look your Mama? We'll just have to wait and see. Love you, sweet girl.

I love going to the mailbox this time of year and opening cards from friends and family. I've received some of the cutest cards this year! I think this is the most simple of cards I've ever sent out, but it's also one of my favorites, and simple goes right along with how I've kept things this Christmas season. We had a little photo shoot with my SIL, Sara, right after Thanksgiving. I think she did a great job and we got some really cute pics of our sweet girl. I'm sure some of my cards are still in transit - so for my family and friends that haven't received yours yet - this will be what you find in your mailbox any day now. Click on card to enlarge.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6

I love coffee with all my heart. I love to spend time with my girls in the kitchen. I love date nights with my guy. This is where I write about my faith, my wonderful family, my love for food, and all the fun that life brings our way!